Skip to main content

More Glass Houses

            Differing weights and differing measures— the Lord detests them both. (Proverbs 20:10)

            Once upon a time, one of the ways merchants and traders sometimes cheated by keeping more than one set of weights. They used the light weight so they didn’t have to pay as much for something, and a heavy weight to convince the people buying from them that they were getting all they paid for. Have you checked how much deodorant is actually in the huge container you take off the grocery store shelf? Have you noticed how far you have to move the internal base before it even starts to ooze through the holes? Have you seen the Facebook videos in which someone pours a small coffee into a medium cup, and then the same medium cup into a large cup, and fills the cup every time? Is the video a scam, or is the coffee vendor scamming you?

            Dare we talk about society and the people who protest when “the other side” does anything, but applaud when their own side does it? Or about the people who express their hatred as they condemn those who don’t love unconditionally. Or about those who condemn “religious” people for believing in something they can’t sense, measure, or subject to repeated experimentation, but accept as obvious evolution that they can’t sense, measure, or subject to repeated experimentation at anything but the least convincing levels.

            Dare we turn the spotlights on ourselves, and our tendencies to grade ourselves on a curve, but other people by the strictest scale possible? Or our reverse tendency to demand absolute perfection from ourselves but let everyone else slide? Have I missed stepping on your toes? Feel free to step on them yourself as I’ve stepped on my own. Not only do we all judge ourselves and others by different standards, but we’re very likely do so when we accuse others of it.

          What makes all this even harder is that these aren’t necessarily conscious failings on our part. We may not notice, but (once again) we live in glass houses. Other people notice. So when we notice their failings or our own, it’s worth talking to God about them rather than our neighbors.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more